Who We Are

The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform is the main food and drink industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide.

Food companies and retailers are the biggest purchasers of agricultural raw materials. In order to rely on a constant, increasing and safe supply of agricultural raw materials, these must be grown in a sustainable manner. In 2002 Nestlé, Unilever and Danone created the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.

SAI Platform today counts over 60 members, which actively share the same view on sustainable agriculture seen as "the efficient production of safe, high quality agricultural products, in a way that protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of farmers, their employees and local communities, and safeguards the health and welfare of all farmed species".

Among the latest services and deliverables produced, the SAI Platform developed (or co-developed) Principles and Practices for sustainable water management at farm level; recommendations for Sustainability Performance Assessment (SPA); a standardised methodology for the dairy sector to assess green house gas emissions; an Executives Training on Sustainable Sourcing; and many more. A full list of these products is available in pdf.

Unique Characteristics:

SAI Platform is the only global food industry initiative for sustainable agriculture.

It seeks involvement from all food chain stakeholders willing to play an active role in the development, recognition and implementation of sustainable practices for mainstream agriculture.

The initiative gathers and develops knowledge on sustainable agriculture, which it then shares with all interested parties to reach common understanding of the concept and of its long-term implications.

It has an inclusive approach, taking into account any valuable initiatives and concepts, for instance elements from both integrated and organic farming, as far as they contribute to sustainable agriculture.

It aims at developing sustainable agriculture for the mainstream agricultural produce through a continuous improvement process that allows for an easier and more flexible adoption by farmers, worldwide.